Scottish Rite Cathedral, Masonic temple in Pasadena, California.
The Scottish Rite Cathedral is a 1925 building in Pasadena in a Moderne or Zig Zag Moderne style, designed and built by Joseph J. Blick and W.C. Crowell. Its Classical Moderne facade carries decorative guardian sphinxes, a detail to look for on the exterior. It is a Masonic temple used by the Scottish Rite, an appendant body of Freemasonry.
The Scottish Rite Cathedral was built in 1925 to designs by Joseph J. Blick and W.C. Crowell, at a cost of about $300,000. It was dedicated on February 18, 1925, before roughly 1,700 high-degree Masons and their families. In 1984 it was deemed eligible for the National Register of Historic Places, but the owner's objection cancelled the listing.
The building belongs to the Scottish Rite, an appendant body of Freemasonry, and was dedicated on 18 February 1925 before about 1,700 high-degree Masons and their families. Members still use it as of 2020. Look for the decorative guardian sphinxes on the facade, a feature tied to its Zig Zag Moderne design.
The cathedral stands at the corner of North Madison Avenue and East Union Street in Pasadena. The 1984 National Register nomination was withdrawn after the owner objected, so no plaque marks the site. The building remains in use by the Scottish Rite organization, so interior access depends on the lodge rather than on public visiting hours.
In 1984 the building was deemed eligible for the National Register of Historic Places under reference number 84003894, but the listing was cancelled because the owner objected, which under the program's terms vetoes it. The sphinxes guarding the facade are the detail most passers-by miss.
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